The Ghost Town of Romagnano al Monte
Romagnano al Monte (Salerno), 641 m above sea level, is perched on a rocky spur and overlooks the deep gorge of the Valle del fiume Bianco. Around it there are high ridges and steep rock walls over cliffs. The town was completely abandoned after the 1980 earthquake, while in the 1960s it had more than 600 inhabitants. The population moved to the public housing that gave rise to Romagnano Nuovo, not far from the old settlement.
In the days following the earthquake, the inhabitants moved to a tent city (Romagnano Nuovo) about 1 km from Buccino, where they currently reside, after having received small plots of land from the State free of charge in proportion to the properties they had in the old town. Only 8 years before the earthquake had the aqueduct reached Romagnano.
Of medieval origin, Romagnano al Monte experienced a history very similar to that of other modest mountain settlements with a pastoral economy, a history linked to the events and fortunes of feudal properties. At the top of the town there are the remains of a castle wall enclosure, while in the center in Piazza SS Rosario there is the Town Hall and the eighteenth-century church of Madonna del Rosario.
